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Post by Gavin Conroy on Nov 14, 2009 19:11:31 GMT 12
Was a cracker of a day, sure it was too windy but being around the people and admiring some great flying machines was loads of fun. I look forward to flying with some of these planes some time soon as I have a few leaves days up my sleeve finally. The Mercedes engine on the Albatros was the sweetest engine I have heard and the FE2, and Albatros were just awesome. Good day and well done to TVAL for working so hard to put on an event like this and look forward to the next one.  |
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Post by Gavin Conroy on Nov 14, 2009 19:31:22 GMT 12
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Post by ErrolC on Nov 14, 2009 20:03:33 GMT 12
Sorry about the poor audio.
The flightline, from a bouncy truck
The FE2 doing it's run
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Nov 14, 2009 20:06:25 GMT 12
The Mercedes engine on the Albatros was the sweetest engine I have heard ... I've got to agree 100% with that. The way that engine idled, it was like a sewing machine ticking over. No missing, no uneven-ness, just perfectly smooth. I can't wait to hear it at higher power levels sometime in the future at another TVAL event when the wind doesn't throw a spanner in the works and prevent it from flying. |
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Nov 14, 2009 20:08:34 GMT 12
BTW....Zac....that bloody castor oil finally caught up with me with a vengence five hours later. I'm never going to pull another stunt like that again, no matter what the potential reward is!  |
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Post by ErrolC on Nov 14, 2009 21:36:37 GMT 12
The Mercedes engine on the Albatros was the sweetest engine I have heard ... I've got to agree 100% with that. The way that engine idled, it was like a sewing machine ticking over. No missing, no uneven-ness, just perfectly smooth. I can't wait to hear it at higher power levels sometime in the future at another TVAL event when the wind doesn't throw a spanner in the works and prevent it from flying. There is some clean engine sound at the end of this clip. It was a fun day, well worth coming down. |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 14, 2009 22:59:10 GMT 12
Thanks to the kindness of Kerry Carlyle (fockwulf) who drove me down there, I was at the event today, and I enjoyed the day immensely. It was great to once again catch up with a number of the forum members, and to finally put a face to a couple of you guys whom I hadn't met in person before. There were a lot of forumites there actually, which was great.
Kerry and I were lucky in that we stayed the night in Masterton with a Fleet Air Arm veteran, whom I also filmed an interview with for my film project, and so we were able to turn up nice and early at Hood Aerodrome. This was the first visit to the drome for both of us. It is a lovely airfield, really nice surroundings and that mountain range backdrop really sets it off.
Arriving around 8.30am we checked out the aircraft that were being prepared by the enthusiastic TVAL chaps, and then we wandered down to the airshow end to become the first two people to pay to get in, whilst the organisers were still setting up. We were able to get good clear access to photographing the aircraft without crowd in the way, and we were treated to a nice low and close display by the Pfalz and the Nieuport dogfighting, and watching all the arrivals. It was nice to chat with a few of the pilots too. The weather was perfact till about the time that the gates officially opened at midday and then it turned rapidly to poo. It's a pity that the flying was not planned for the morning but then no-one can predict the fickle weather.
The one thing I feel bad about is I received two phonecalls on my stupid mobile phone that I was unable to answer - the first was because I was on top of an Old Bill Bus crowded out by throngs of people and was unable to find the damned phone in my many pockets whilst elbowing the lady beside me before it stopped ringing. A little while later it began ringing again just as I was having my photo taken. I was standing next to one of those low speakers and didn't hear it at first due to the excessive noise coming from the commentators. When i did realise I was posing and the photographer, who's 86, took longer to click the shutter than humanly posible and by the time she'd finished and I grabbed the phone it just stopped. Apparently itwas a secod, different caller. I diodn't have enough credit to call either caller back. So if it was you trying to raise me, I apologise profusely and didn't mean to be rude. Hopefully I caught up with you at some point anyway.
To pick up on two points from the avbove paragraph - Point One:- those Old Bill Buses are AWESOME!!! Well done to TVAL for constructing or purchasing them or whatever you did to get them on display. I had no idea anything like these existed in NZ. I have the old 1/32 scale Airfix kit still unmade in it's 1970's packaging put away for a rainy day. I have always loved the look of that old style London bus, both in civil form and especially in military guise. I'm especially pleased to not only have seen the two old buses today but to have had the opportunity to ride in one of them on the top deck for the free flightline ride (awesome idea, thanks TVAL) and to experience exactly what they were like to ride in. All I can say is that given that we were on fairly flat grass, I would hate to have been one o the young Tommy's who were transported over battlefronts in those bumpy, slow old things.
Point two - how refreshing to see an airshow event where the organisers and sound people actually had speakers on short poles, so as not to be detrimental to filming or photography. Today proved it can indeed be done. Standing right next to a speaker was too loud but a metre or so away was tolerable and the sound quality was just as good as it is on the tall poles.
Well done to all involved in today's event. The flying may have been cut back by the weatehr but it was still an immensely enjoyable day, and just to be there and experience the Hood Aerodrome atmosphere, and to see some of the TVAL collection lined up like that was enough for me. I hope to get back there someday again.
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Post by thomarse on Nov 15, 2009 6:07:46 GMT 12
One of them was me, Dave (021) 568748
Unfortunately yours was the only number I had noted thus I didn't catch up with any forumites. Sorry folks, next time.................
Now I'm off back to the Yrapa to immerse myself amongst ktj's drunks for the day! Looks even worse today unfortunately, very grey and blowing like hell. The frost protection choppers have been out a couple of nights recently; no need this morning
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Post by Gavin Conroy on Nov 15, 2009 7:13:25 GMT 12
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 15, 2009 7:38:25 GMT 12
Sorry about that Thomarse, but I'm sure we'll meet somewhere in the future.
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Post by baz62 on Nov 15, 2009 9:47:53 GMT 12
Great photos as always Gavin and man that Mercedes engine runs smooooooth.
Flew down in a Cherokee? Bit of a step down from the Nanchang!! ;D
Sorry Cherokee fans only kidding, I've actually flown the Archer which was an improvement on the old 140 and made my landings look much better!! ;D
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Post by flyjoe180 on Nov 15, 2009 12:14:24 GMT 12
Sorry I didn't make it, work events conspired against me. Nice photos as usual Gavin. It sounds as though the show was worthwhile even though the wind strength was up, and that those of you who attended had a great time.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 15, 2009 12:35:35 GMT 12
I went away disappointed and sick - I will NOT take the castor oil challenge again any time soon! - but I was still very pleased to see the new aircraft and to meet up with all the forumites. Was nice to meet Peter Layne and also to catch up with Ray Deerness. I was spellbound by the FE.2B and Albatros, and it was bliss to stand behind the BE.2f as it was started. I thought I could glimpse another BE in the TVAL hangar...I spent all day hoping like mad it would be brought out, but alas it wasn't to be.
Gav, great shots! I saw you floating around on the other side of the fence, as soon as EBX and DOT appeared overhead I had a feeling you had decided to come! It was good to catch up with Al and to see Mark enjoying Changa 20.
It does seem as though the NZ aviation fraternity knows Zac Yates as "the Fletcher man"...an epithet I'm more than happy with!
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 15, 2009 13:09:01 GMT 12
Kerry tried to talk me into that castor oil challenge all day but I was wise enough to stay away from it. I was surprised they managed to convince 30 people to partake in the competition, when there were only about 10 or 12 portaloos there! I'm very glad I had the good sense to not listen to Kerry, I'm sure that he'd not have appreciated the results on his car upholstery on the way home. ;D I wonder if the winner actually enjoyed the flight.
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Post by Peter Lewis on Nov 15, 2009 19:07:23 GMT 12
I thoroughly enjoyed the show, sure the wind was a problem but that's aviation.
I had a horror day getting down to Wellington on Friday (it was the 13th, after all) but things improved after that.
Good to meet up with Dave, Kerry, Zac and in particular Ray - we discussed PL-11s to death.
Only problem was this photographer guy in an 'Aviation News' jacket whom kept on standing in front of any aircraft that I wanted to photograph.
Hung around to after the end of the show, and then prowled through the hangars as the day wound down. Met up with a WRAC instructor who gave us a guided tour of the aero club hangar and the run-down on a new RANS they are building.
Great meal in a really funky Italian restaurant in Petone that night.
This morning - Sunday - looked around Paraparaumu, checked out the Raumati Beach crash site of DC-3 ZK-AQT and called in at Te Papa before a couple of hours at Rongotai before the flight home, 300 photos later.
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Post by Radialicious on Nov 15, 2009 20:23:34 GMT 12
yeah, even though the wind kept the WW1 machines on the ground it was still well worth the visit. There were many highlights but I think the running of the Mercedes engine in the Albatros was what did it for me the most. There must be something about those old six cylinder engines because it and the Beardmore sounded great. Gav summed up the Mercedes yesterday when he said it had a bass note that could be described as coming from the highest quality sub-woofer you could imagine. It was lovely to watch at idle and I look forward to hearing her in flight.
an observation that I made yesterday was how the kiwi airshow crowd has changed in 15 years or so. When asked what flew throughout the day I heard someone answer, "only a Harvard and a Kittyhawk". Only a Kittyhawk? I remember not that long ago when we would have stood against a fence for hours and hours or travelled hundreds of miles to watch a Kittyhawk fly. I certainly don't think we have become bored of such machinery. Instead I believe that we should take our hats off to, and thank, the owners and restorers of these machines for developing our vintage and warbird scene to such a staggering degree.
Again thanks to the TVAL crowd for the chance to see and hear these machines up close
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 15, 2009 20:24:47 GMT 12
Peter, is the DC-3 still there at the crash site? I'd like to see some photos if possible please.
I'd like to add some photos from the event but somehow my flipping photobucket has maxed out again and switched itself off. Very annoying being popular.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 15, 2009 20:36:58 GMT 12
Al, the Kittyhawk will never be an "only" or "also ran" for me, it was definately one of the highlights.
Having never been to Hood Aerodrome before in my life, but knowing full well its wartime history, it was a huge thrill for me to watch a Kittyhawk take off from New Zealand's first proper fighter squadron base. And not just any old Kittyhawk, but one of those actual aircraft that was based there with No. 14 Squadron RNZAF. Oh, and not just any old No. 14 Squadron Kittyhawk either, but the first Kittyhawk that Geoff Fisken ever flew, so he told me a few weeks back when I interviewed him. After hearing his tales of the Masterton days and reading various books including Peter Norman's works that record RNZAF Station Masterton's history, seeing the P-40E in the hands of no less than the highly skilled pilot Stu Goldspink was nothing short of fantastic. It's just a pity it wears those ugly Chinese colours rather than it's RNZAF plumage, but you can't have everything I'm afraid.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 15, 2009 22:16:12 GMT 12
Just an aside observation here, Masterton is a much bigger town than I had thought, it's quite sprawling isn't it? Not a bad place all in all, and it retains that old fashioned kiwi town feel that existed in the 1980's and most towns have lost through globalisation and immigration.
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Post by ErrolC on Nov 15, 2009 22:20:06 GMT 12
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